BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

bk

There are now clear indications of two more bus stops to go onto Griffith Avenue for the N2.

LXFlyer

The Lucan Core Bus Corridor Scheme is now approved by ABP.

https://www.pleanala.ie/en-ie/case/314942

That’s 8/12 now.

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580291#Comment_122580291

Timetable information, signage anda associated literature relating to the C-spine services availing of the Chapelizod Hill Road bus stops, shall refer to the inclines at and in the vicinity of these bus stops and shall provide information to prospective patrons of other bus services that are available to serve Chapelizod.

Not surprised at this, the proposed ramp up to this stop was a bit ridiculous IMO.

Seems a big section of 2-way bike lane was scrapped by Hermitage Golf course too, which is unfortunate

The element of proposed two-way cycle lane on the northside of the N4 national road, and associated works including large scale netting and other elements of boundary change at the golf course shall be omitted, from the entrance gate to the Hermitage Golf Club (west), to the existing foot cycle bridge over the N4 9 (east).

noelfirl

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580427#Comment_122580427

Based on the drawings they wanted to retain 3 general traffic lanes plus a bus lane there. So without changes to the road I'm really not quire sure how that's going to work now, unless that section is going to just be a pile of crap, probably barely more than 1.5m wide, bidirectional shared space.

Oh, that's what it's going to be isn't it.

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122557811#Comment_122557811

It's a complete waste of time and fresh air carrier maybe if it continued along the quays into the city centre like the 90Z proposal a couple of years it would make sense.

I think this route exists solely for the NTA to try and convince the OPW to allow regular services use the Park. The same OPW that paid 350k for a bike shelter might I add.

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122581181#Comment_122581181

Agreed it's totally isolated from the rest of the public transport network bar a stop it shares with other routes on park gate street. If it actually went to Eden Quay it'd be packed

TheChrisD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122580427#Comment_122580427

what is it with **** golf clubs always getting other things to adjust around them

john boye

Michael McDowell's latest DUBLIN CITY TRANSPORT UPDATE newsletter is a corker.

The Kimmage bus corridor, the Belfield-Blackrock bus corridor, the Templeogue/Rathfarnham bus corridor, the Rathmines bus gate ("There is no need for a bus gate on Lower Rathmines Road. The existing route from Lower Rathmines Road to South Richmond Street is more than adequate for increased bus use with proper traffic management" are the shameless words of someone who's never done that route on a bus), the Baggot Street bus gate and the Sandymount-Pearse Street bus corridor are all VERY BAD THINGS.

He also has a negative view on the planned route for the Metrolink which is particularly galling given the long-term damage he's already done to that project.

It really is a classic of the genre.

tom1ie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122591793#Comment_122591793

He’s an absolute charlatan, how shouldn’t be allowed comment on PT as he never has or never will need the use of a functioning PT system in Dublin or Ireland.

cantthinkofausername1

I saw a new bus shelter at the 40e terminus at Broombridge Station (may be a sign of the N2 route happening soon),

Has new N2 bus stops being built yet on Broombridge Road?

Daith

I was asking about a bus stop at Broombridge for the 40e for ages. Maybe they could have built a bigger one with the N2 scheduled soon though.

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122591793#Comment_122591793

Stop reading his opinion pieces. Stop talking about them online. Stop giving him exposure. It’s the only way to get the papers to stop paying him to churn out this drivel.

markpb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122591793#Comment_122591793

Stop reading his opinion pieces. Stop talking about them online. Stop giving him exposure. It’s the only way to get the papers to stop paying him to churn out this drivel.

dublinman1990

Will the O route be added to the bus stops at Heuston Station when the N2 is launched near the end of September?

We already know that the 4 bus route will eventually be added to those bus stops when the E-Spine is rolled out in November.

Is there any reason why the O route wasn't included in the internal work document on the E-Spine routes from Dublin Bus?

In an ideal situation; it should be rolled out with the N2 in September. It seems strange that the N2 is included with the E-Spine routes document but the O route is nowhere to be seen on it.

Tarabuses

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122593456#Comment_122593456

He is a rabble rouser with no regard for the general public.

p_haugh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122593608#Comment_122593608

The O route is coming after the E-spine, hence why the 11 is initially being rerouted to terminate at Infirmary Road/Park gate Street (i.e. taking over the northern routing of the 46a). I'm not sure if that will still be the case once the O route launches, however.

Disco24

Small development today. N4 city bound is now going via Clontarf Rd train stn. Will knock couple mins off morning rush hour.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122595684#Comment_122595684

Do you know if it is now stopping at the bus stop in front of the DART station? Be handy if it was.

Nice change.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122596437#Comment_122596437

I'd have to imagine that it does. Presumably they were just waiting until the bus lane slip was finished as part of the C2CC works before they started using it.

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122596457#Comment_122596457

There is a new stop, 7863 at Clontarf Road DART station for eastbound N4 buses.

They will not serve stop 1740 on Clontarf Road any more as a result (stop 613 at the end of the Howth Road covers that stop in any case).

Westbound buses continue to use stop 1738 on Clontarf Road.

TheChrisD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122596509#Comment_122596509

Why did they make a new one, when there was already stop 4794 which serves as the 104 (and soon to be the N2) terminus 🤔

LXFlyer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122597005#Comment_122597005

A terminus will always have buses laying over.

It is never a good idea to have buses passing by stopping at the same stop as it can make it very difficult for those buses to pull in properly due to buses on the terminating route being parked.

cgcsb

Has anyone heard anything more substantial about a September launch of the N2? I haven't heard anything to substantiate it myself other than from posters here.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122597593#Comment_122597593

The N2 will have to deal with that at the 123 terminus.

And unfortunately 123 drivers also park up on the other 123 bus stops in front of the school, despite dedicated bays at the 123 terminus, thus blocking the cycle lane that is supposed to be for children cycling to school!

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122597816#Comment_122597816

Would that be if the terminus is full of buses?

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122598064#Comment_122598064

No, I'm talking about the 100's of times I've seen them parked up in front of the school when there were no buses at the terminus.

I have no idea why, but for some reason some drivers don't seem to like to park up at the terminus!

BTW There is room for at least 3, if not 4 buses at the terminus there.

VG31

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122597712#Comment_122597712

I read that on another forum but it doesn't look likely to be correct at this stage. It's probably easier for the NTA to launch all the routes at once, even if Go Ahead are ready earlier than DB.

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122598165#Comment_122598165

Well that's probably because drivers don't want to be bothered by potential passengers asking questions/wanting to board before the scheduled time if they park at the bus stop.

Disco24

Clontarf is starting to look like proper transport interchange. Could do with more secure bike stands thought to support new cycle lane traffic that i suspect will increase.

Van.Bosch

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122598938#Comment_122598938

so they block a cycle lane instead?

Disco24

N4 Bus stop city bound across from westwood still in use this morning.

Did notice the 6 cars parked on the left as you go into the car park at dart Station creates pinch point for buses. Should either make them 3 parallel spaces or get rid of them.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122598938#Comment_122598938

Sure, but that isn't acceptable!

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122601145#Comment_122601145

Well they're parked in a bus stop so surely not breaking any law

Fizzy Duck

Usually it can be because the bus behind you is leaving first. The kerb at the terminus is quite high and covered in paint. The terminus can fit 2, 3 with a bit of reversing but that can be dangerous and technically we cant do it unsupervised due to the danger of cyclists.

Also if you get to the last stop, you can't see if there are drivers in the buses at the terminus (they may be using toilet facilities) so you dont want to go around and block the road or risk missing the first stop.

Wouldn't say its being done deliberately. And personally I dont mind talking to passengers or answering questions, beats staring at the phone or trying to avoid contact with them

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122601184#Comment_122601184

I walked by one doing it yesterday, it stopped at the last stop before the terminus, left passengers off and then actually pulled forward of the stop, so wasn't actually at the bus stop, but was just illegally parked.

I'm not sure if stopped at a bus stop, but driver not in the driver seat is actually legal or not, but doesn't really matter, it is bad practice and they shouldn't be doing it.

I really don't want to get anyone in trouble, but it is forcing children to have to cycle out into the road which is dangerous for them and it defeats the purpose of cycle lanes.

bk

BTW construction has begun on a new N2 bus stop on Griffith Avenue. An east bound stop on the corner of Griffith Avenue and Grace Park Road.

dublinman1990

I was reading on the phone today that former GP TD now independent councillor; Paul Gogarty, had released his own survey yesterday about the performance of BusConnects filled out by his constituents in his own LEA which covers South West Dublin.

https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/huge-level-no-shows-bus-29881280

He said the routes that were created under BusConnects were not satisfactory because of driver shortages & long waiting times being present on some routes that serve Ballyfermot, Tallaght, Liffey Valley & Clondalkin. He said in response that he wants to see more intermediate departures being made for bus routes in his own constituency in the near future.

Daith

He's answered his own question with the driver shortages

john boye

What on earth are more immediate departures?

StreetLight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122602789#Comment_122602789

Intermediate. Buses that slot in halfway along a route to relieve pressure on loadings. Dublin Bus used to do it until the NTA put a stop to it.

scrabtom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122602851#Comment_122602851

Sounds like a good idea. I take the C route in the morning from Lucan regularly enough and I always feel bad for anyone from the Penny Hill onwards who are pretty much guaranteed not to get a seat whereas someone who gets on a bit earlier will pretty much always get one.

Gogarty is pretty on the ball as councillors go, clearly works really hard and seems on top of the local issues.

bk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122598942#Comment_122598942

Yes, very true, it is starting to become an impressive location. In addition to DART, the N4, 102 and soon to be N2. 104, 130 and the H routes close by. The buses to East Point Business Park and lots of cycle schemes there now too.

What is interesting about the cycle parking is that it is relatively new a big expansion compared to what came before and it is already looking full and needs to be expanded.

As an aside, one complaint about Clontarf DART station is the footpath, it is only on one side of the car park and it has a barrier the full length which stops you from crossing over to the bus stops there, the cycle parking or even to get into your car. It is a bad design, it means folks walking to get the bus have to walk down the middle of the car park to get to the bus stop, which isn't safe or pleasant.

That barrier should be removed and replaced by bollards instead, allowing you to access your parking space or cross the road.

CatInABox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122604480#Comment_122604480

Shame that DCC renewed the Westwood carpark 2 lease, they could have taken some of it to make improvements to the Dart car park.

john boye

I saw an ad on a bus today saying DB have vacancies for full-time and part-time drivers. Is this the first time they've advertised for part-time drivers?

Midnight_EG

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122606247#Comment_122606247

Every Sunday and one random other day... Not great

TranslatorPS

Sundays have turned out to be the biggest problem with the incumbent rota system: the five-week rota was designed with Saturday schedules having 75% and Sunday having 50% of the Mon-Fri duty count (that is, for every five weeks you'd work four Mondays thru Fridays, three Saturdays, and two Sundays). Recent schedules have higher proportions, less so for Saturdays and more so for Sundays. A lot of it is due to either somewhat higher frequencies than what would've been used before or due to longer service hours or some manner of a combination of both. One of the early versions of the G1/G2 bill had the Saturday and Sunday schedules be 65% and 62% respectively, while on the current 46A/155 bill it's 74% and 64% respectively. That Sunday creates an imbalance and so they're trying to pawn them off to part-timers instead of bloating up the rosters because apparently the GAI approach of creating rosters suited to the actual duty counts (with the caveat of each roster having a different work/rest day pattern) rather than using cookie-cutter templates from seemingly at least the 1980s is anathema.

Part-timers aren't anything particularly new in the bus industry – I keep on hearing that way too often in the US, but there they usually mean doing five days of short duties rather than doing two or three days of standard-length duties, as a way of covering the peak hour extras that just can't be matched with anything sensibly or legally to form a full-timer's duty.

Midnight_EG

And on that note, you can see how the new Euro duties bombed in the marking ins, nobody wants to do so-called part time work

mikeybhoy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122606374#Comment_122606374

I guess it might suit those who want to retire but still want to do 2 days a week. Also may suit childcare arrangements for some. I've seen Bus Eireann advertise for part timers and I know Aircoach have part time drivers aswell.

thomasj

N2 launching 29th September

VG31

Timetables and more information are available here

https://www.transportforireland.ie/getting-around/by-bus/n2-orbital-route/